Bifrost
by 1954
Summary: Bookseller AU. There's a beautiful stranger in town and Thor is hopelessly in love. Unfortunately for him, this stranger comes with secrets that will devastate them both. Or, in which Thor is a fumbling lovesick idiot and there's too much Norse mythology for an actual AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: _Thor_ (2011) and _Marvel's T he Avengers _(2012) and its characters do not belong, in any way to the writer of this fanfiction. This fiction is written for non-profit reasons.

Also posted on tumblr: pineapplebread. tumblr dotcom /tagged /bifrost%20au%20fic (close the spaces and replace "dotcom")

* * *

Thor's world ends on a Tuesday.

Thor is an optimist and a romantic but he's also pragmatic… somewhat. He doesn't actually believe in the concept of love at first sight and he certainly does not expect to actually fall in love during his daily coffee run.

Sludge is bustling with the early morning crowd. There is a long line leading to the counter, mainly consisting of suits and hipsters waiting for their first caffeine injection to start the day. The tables spread sporadically throughout the small space are already filled with bleary eyed customers face-planting into croissants and bagels.

Thor's gaze travels in a cursory sweep around the store and his world screeches to an abrupt stop when it lands on the window seat three tables to the left of the door. The sun is streaming through the window, falling in some sort of ridiculous ethereal glow on the man sitting at the table.

The light halos dark hair and throws stunningly high cheekbones into sharp relief. The man's eyes are green and they shine pale and ghostly in the sun. His skin is pale, pale, pale, and his mouth is quirking at whatever it is that he is reading, and _is that a dimple_,and Thor can't bring himself to look away. Long fingers spider across the table, gently flipping through the pages of a leather-bound book and Thor is entranced by the way the elegant digits flit across the paper. Thor suddenly very much hates himself for the romance-novel metaphors but nothing else comes to mind and he feels like a thirteen year old girl with a crush. He can't very well help himself because this stranger is fucking beautiful and enigmatic and Thor is _entranced_.

The man also looks strangely familiar but Thor can't really put his finger on _why_. The man looks like someone he knows, maybe, but no one comes to mind. He makes Thor feel slightly nostalgic and he is struck with the immense urge to walk over to that table and introduce himself, maybe ask the stranger _why the hell do you look so familiar_, _do we know each other_, _hi you're beautiful_, and _where have you been all my life_. At the last moment, he restrains himself, thinking maybe all of that might come on too strong because life is not a rom-com and Thor is not Jennifer Aniston.

He doesn't even notice that he is now at the front of the line and the man directly behind him is clearing his throat impatiently. Thor finally snaps back to reality and orders his usual: extra cream and extra sugar, hold the coffee for himself and a sausage biscuit for Mjölnir.

After he picks up his order, Thor immediately turns back to the window table but the man is already gone. Thor feels a strange sense of loss that is not entirely unfamiliar and he frowns slightly. It's not enough to feel like déjà vu but it's close enough and he tries to banish the thought from his mind before it sets in enough to ruin his day.

He exits the coffee shop and leans down to pat Mjölnir and unties his leash from the bike rack by the front door. He buries his hand in Mjölnir's thick golden mane and kisses him on the top of his furry head before he leads them to the park. He unclips the leash at the dog park and sits at a bench to watch Mjölnir frolic with the other dogs, the enormous golden retriever dwarfing all of the other dogs in the pen.

He sips at his coffee and tries very hard to stop thinking of the stranger from Sludge and fails spectacularly. The familiar stranger tugs at his mind incessantly and Thor curses himself for not walking off the line to introduce himself before it was too late. He feels bereft somehow even though he hasn't even _met_ the fucking guy and Thor is clearly regressing in age and testosterone levels. He briefly contemplates checking his pants to see if he is growing a vagina. He laughs at himself, because seriously? He needs to get a grip.

He and Mjölnir take the long way home afterwards, and much to the dog's delight, Thor breaks out in a brisk jog. Mjölnir is always full of pent up energy from long days of being cramped in Thor's small apartment.

They jog through the park and take the scenic route along the river that wends its way through the small town they live in. Thor still marvels at how in small towns, everyone knows everyone. He waves hello to no less than fourteen neighbors who pass them along the way.

He's still trying to get used to how his next door neighbor, the kindly old Mrs. Schmittendorf likes to knock on his door randomly with offers of fresh baked goods and motherly questions like, "Oh dearie, have you found yourself a nice girl yet?" "How's that book of yours going? What's it called again? Was it _Harry Potter_?" and "You are looking thin this week. Would you like some more _erbsensupp__**e**_?"

Thor and Mjölnir are jogging past the waterfront street at the edge of town when Thor notices that the store that has been unoccupied for nearly two years is finally open again. It is now a bookstore, apparently, and Thor is intrigued. He loves bookstores and he loves to spend entire days in them, losing himself in the pages of bound worlds and universes awaiting his discovery. He curses mentally remembering that he is supposed to call his agent for a meeting this afternoon. He postpones a visit to the store with no small sense of disappointment, and they jog home instead.

He is briefly accosted by Mrs. Schmittendorf at his front step. She hands him a warm covered plate and questions him with her usual barrage of questions of girlfriend, book, and would he like more food. Thor thinks maybe she would have been an amazing prisoner interrogator.

He smiles and tells her he's fine, really, and with a suspicious squint, she hobbles back over to her side of the yard and disappears into her home, no doubt to make him more sauerkraut or other some such. She is on a perpetual quest to fatten him up, it seems, but Thor feels grateful to her, for the fact that she simply _cares_ out of the goodness of her heart.

He opens the door and Mjölnir immediately jumps onto the couch. It is a habit Thor has tried very, very hard to train out of him since he was a puppy but nothing has ever deterred Mjölnir when he wants something so Thor gives up.

Thor goes into the kitchen to microwave himself some pop tarts after feeding Mjölnir his sausage biscuit and settles down to work. He checks his Facebook, his Twitter, and updates his blog before he finally decides to suck it up and call his agent. He finally gets an extension on his deadline after much bargaining, yelling, protesting, and pleading that Thor is not very proud of, because, "Goddamnit, Phil, I'm really stumped right now, okay? I need more time to work through this block."

In the end, he gets an extra couple of months and everyone is happy except for his publisher but as far as Thor is concerned, Shield Publishing can go fuck themselves because they still owe him the last quarter of his advance. He promises Phil that yes, he's working hard to try to finish the new novel as soon as possible and yes, he's going back to work _right now_, _bye Phil_. Thor spends the rest of the day in his pajamas on Tumblr.

It's really not that Thor is slacking or that he _wants _to slack but Thor is genuinely stumped. He is in the process of writing a novel at the moment; he is trying to develop something that he hopes will be poignant enough to live up to his previous three books which somehow became New York Times Bestsellers. The first three books came naturally and they were genuine but now the pressure is mounting on the new book because obviously, this one will have to make even more money than the first three.

He has the basic premise of the storyline mapped out but beyond that, he's not even sure how to start. He's working around Norse mythological themes about a pair of brothers, a betrayal, and jealousy that would tear them apart. He is basing the character on his namesake because in Norse mythology, Thor is the God of Thunder and his brother is Loki the God of Mischief. He has always found the myths of Thor and Loki to be fascinating.

Thor is not _actually_ his real name though. It just sounds a lot cooler than _Chris_ when he's writing books, okay? And it just kind of stuck ever since he adopted it in college. It felt like a new beginning at the time: a new name, a new place, a new life. He finally escaped that god-awful orphanage where the food was never quite enough, and the blankets were always a bit too thin in the winter, and the nuns weren't particularly kind. He was _so thankful_ for the full scholarship to Asgard University where he can finally pursue his passion and make a new life for himself.

Thor is proud to say that everything was uphill from there. He managed to survive university with two part time jobs and some help from a couple of very good friends. He had spent more than a few nights on Darcy and Jane's couch.

His first big break came when one of the biggest publishing houses, Shield Publishing picked up his manuscript and the book became a Bestseller that stayed at the top of the list for three months. Thor put a down payment on an apartment and adopted a puppy with his first substantial royalty check.

In the end, Thor's story is a story of success and he cannot be more thankful for the turns in his life that has brought him to this point. This frustrating, exasperating, creatively blocked point in life.

He sighs and shuts off his laptop, feeling a headache forming behind his eyes. He decides to call it a night with a quick dinner of the plate of wiener schnitzel Mrs. Schmittendorf gave him and crawls into bed. Mjölnir flops down next to him and Thor finds himself staring blankly at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

A million thoughts are flying through his head and he can't seem to hold onto any specific one. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to center himself, and concentrates on more mundane thoughts.

He wonders at how Mrs. Schmittendorf keeps asking him about girlfriends. Apparently, Thor did not have much trouble finding bed partners ever since he started putting on muscle. He was promiscuous in college and slept with most of the cheerleaders and sorority girls. He and his good friend Jane Foster also tried once, right before they graduated. She was a science major and works for some top secret science government agency now but they thought they had something at one time.

However, all it took was one fumbling kiss and Jane pulled away with a disappointed, "oh." That was when Thor realized yeah, he doesn't actually like _girls_, despite the scores of them he'd slept with. He's still a bit fuzzy on why it took trying to kiss Jane to figure that one out. He has never disabused Mrs. Schmittendorf of her assumptions though, and he's not entirely sure why.

Despite his newfound sexuality, Thor has never actually been with a man. Maybe he's too scared, or maybe he hasn't found one he is very attracted to, or _something_ but it has simply never happened. Thor is not sure what to think of that until he remembers the man from Sludge that morning.

There is definitely attraction there because fuck, yeah, Thor is very much attracted to him. His cock twitches at the thought of the wicked curve of the stranger's mouth and yep, very, _very_ attracted. It comes like a bucket of ice water when he realizes that he's probably not likely to see the stranger again, even in a small town like his.

Thor finally falls asleep and dreams of gods of thunder and gods of mischief and wakes up feeling as though he just fell off the interdimensional bridge, Bifröst of lore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: _Thor_ (2011) and _Marvel's T he Avengers _(2012) and its characters do not belong, in any way to the writer of this fanfiction. This fiction is written for non-profit reasons.

Also posted on tumblr: (username: pineapplebread), bifrost link on top of page.

* * *

_He's standing at the edge of a broken bridge._

_The void below him is full of stars and the abyss is calling his name._

_And suddenly,_

_He's falling._

_Thor, it calls._

_Is that his name?_

_He doesn't remember._

_Thor, it whispers._

_Thor, it says._

_God of Lightning. God of Storms._

_Thunderer._

_Thor._

_And someone is screaming._

_Brother._

_Thor._

_Brother._

_Chris._

He wakes up the next morning feeling as though he fought a war in his sleep. His heart is racing and the sun feels too bright. He feels as though he should remember his dreams but they slip away like water running through his fingers. He desperately tries to grab at them, a futile attempt.

He lies in bed, feeling numb and aching and uncertain. Suddenly, he forgets himself and he is Chris again. Chris who lived through hunger and cold and pain, Chris who had a brother, Chris who wasn't strong enough to hold onto his brother, Chris who lost his brother, Chris who mourns for his brother.

Chris's brother, Tom, whom he hasn't seen in twenty-two years, was adopted when Tom was four and Chris was eight and Chris got left behind. His last memory of his little brother was the tears in his enormous green eyes and the screeching wails that came out of his mouth as his new parents pulled him from Chris's arms. He swore to find his brother one day and he hasn't seen Tom since.

The nuns refused to talk about Tom and sometimes, Chris felt like he was crazy. He was eight, and confused, and grieving, and no one cared. Sometimes, he wonders if maybe he made Tom up to give his childish mind a reason to work his way out of the orphanage as soon as he could. Maybe Tom never existed outside of his mind, a childish delusion to make things seem less bleak and hopeless.

But he is Thor now and Thor is a new life and Thor never had a Tom to lose. Maybe one day he will find Tom but that day is not today.

Thor drags himself out of bed and forces himself to go through the motions of his morning routine: shower, breakfast, and checking his messages. He is about to take Mjölnir out for a jog when he feels a familiar tingling at the back of his mind and he is surprisingly itching to write. He hasn't written anything in two months and it feels like visiting to an old friend he hasn't seen in a while when he pulls his laptop towards him and opens up his word program.

His fingers fly across the keyboard and the first chapter appears on his screen in an hour. The story bleeds out of his fingertips and he feels like he knows these gods like he knows himself. He is perplexed by the sudden _crush_ of inspiration but he does not stop.

Thor writes for two weeks straight and doesn't step foot out of his house for that length of time. He barely sleeps, running mostly on caffeine, pop tarts, and the determination to get everything down before his muse leaves him again.

Mjölnir grows increasingly restless and has taken to whining and scratching at the front door. Thor ignores him for the most part and gives him gentle pats, promising him that they'll go outside in a minute, just one more page, _good boy_.

They finally emerge from Thor's apartment on a Thursday and Thor blinks owlishly at the bright morning sunlight. Mjölnir immediately pulls at his leash in the general direction of Sludge and Thor is forced to follow. He suddenly remembers the beautiful stranger and his heart lurches. There is an ache somewhere in his chest when he realizes he hasn't seen this stranger in two weeks and he _misses_ him.

How can he possibly miss someone he's never met before? Thor is truly losing his mind.

His fingers are crossed and he is hoping desperately to see the stranger again at Sludge. He even pauses at a window across the street to use the reflection to straighten his flannel shirt.

The coffee shop is packed with its usual morning crowd and Thor scans the small space as he stands in line. His eyes linger at the window seat but it is currently occupied by a girl – he's only half certain it's a girl – with blue dreadlocks and plastic frame glasses. He scans the rest of the room and does not see his stranger.

Wait. _His_ stranger? Where did that even come from? Thor sighs to himself despondently.

He goes back to Sludge every day after that and sits at the first table he can grab, waiting for hours at a time for the mysterious man to show up. He is always hoping for a glimpse of his stranger but there is never any sign of the dark haired man with the pale green eyes. With every day that he fails to meet the stranger, the ache in his chest intensifies and sometimes, Thor feels as though he can't breathe.

Thor stops writing again. The words dry up and he can't find it in himself to write a single word more, despite his agent, Phil's pleas and his publisher, Nick's threats.

He completely forgets about the new bookshop until one day, on their way home after waiting for his stranger for four hours at Sludge, Mjölnir pulls the leash from his unsuspecting grip and rushes at a squirrel in the direction of the river. Thor just barely manages to catch up to him at the bank of the river and he breathes a deep sigh of relief. Mjölnir is ridiculous and does not know how to swim and Thor would not have appreciated diving in to save his silly dog.

He reprimands Mjölnir firmly about leashes and squirrels. Mjölnir tilts his head at him and wags his tail. Thor sighs and they take the river route home.

They are passing by the new bookstore when Thor remembers he has yet to actually go inside. He pauses briefly to think about it, taking into consideration how long he usually spends at bookstores. He decides Phil's disappointment over his lack of progress is not that big a deal at all. Really, he deals with it every day now (what's another?), so he ties Mjölnir at a post in the front and walks in.

A bell jingles somewhere above the door and he breathes in the ink and paper smell of a bookstore; it's one of his favorite smells in the world. It cheers him up slightly from his daily dose of disappointment over the futile wait for his stranger and the ache in his chest eases minutely.

The bookshop is small and cramped and Thor instantly loves the place. Book shelves are lined in haphazardous rows reaching all the way to the tall ceiling (there are _skylights_!) and stretching to the back of the store. The shelves are all full and each section is labeled with a neat calligraphic sign hanging above its respective area. The register is at the back of the shop and the counter appears to be covered with a wide selection of knickknacks. The lighting is low and warm, and Thor notes a small reading area in a corner with a rug, overstuffed armchairs, and a pair of antique lamps. The Beatles are playing softly from cleverly hidden speakers. The shop feels more like someone's bookshelves in a den than it does a commercial space and Thor feels like a little kid at a candy store.

He seems to be the only customer in the shop but that does not deter him from wandering deeper inside. Thor is walking past the Cooking/ Baking section when he is suddenly greeted by an enormous grey wolf-dog-thing sitting by the Children's section. He thinks it is a stuffed toy at first before he realizes, _oh_,it's takes a hesitant step back and stares at the huge smiling row of very sharp teeth level at his navel.

He's fairly certain this wolf-dog can rip his entrails out if it so felt inclined. He's also fairly certain it's illegal to have a wolf as a pet or it should very well _be _illegal to own something so enormous and dangerous looking. The wolf-dog is big enough to make Mjölnir look like a puppy. _Do dogs even grow that big? _What the hell is it doing in a bookstore anyways?

"Don't worry. Fenrir won't bite," comes a disembodied voice from the back of the store and Thor jumps at the sound. "I'm in the back taking care of a new shipment but if you need any help, just shout."

"Okay, thank you," Thor calls back.

He eyes Fenrir dubiously, who grins at him, tongue lolling and yellow eyes glowing in the dim light. He smiles at Thor like he knows something Thor doesn't.

He gingerly steps past the wolf-dog into the store and begins his perusal of the shelves. He's delighted to find shelves of everything from textbooks to classic literary works to antique first-editions. He has a feeling he would be coming back very often.

He spends an hour looking through the Mythology shelf and delights himself in the surprisingly big selection of material. He flips through several tomes on Greek mythology and edges his way towards the Norse works. He picks up several books to take to the reading area and settles into an extremely comfortable armchair to read.

Thor is flipping through a copy of a translation of the _Poetic Edda _whenthe owner of the shop finally comes out of the back room. He catches a glimpse of dark slicked-back hair and a flash of green. Suddenly, the ache in his chest comes back full force but it also somehow feels completely different this time, and Thor's knees would have buckled if he isn't already sitting. Thor feels his world crumble and rebuild itself in a single instance.

He doesn't even notice the book slipping from his hand to land on his foot because the stranger he's been pining for weeks over emerges from between the Young Adult Fiction and Adult Romance shelves. And _fuck_, he might not even know the guy, but Thor is devastatingly in love with him already.

* * *

**Review please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: _Thor_ (2011) and _Marvel's The Avengers _(2012) and its characters do not belong, in any way to the writer of this fanfiction. This fiction is written for non-profit reasons.

Also posted on tumblr: (username: pineapplebread), bifrost link on top of page. Tumblr usually gets updated first so if you want to read ahead, please head over to Tumblr.

* * *

Thor isn't very sure what that says about his current mental state: the fact that he is in love with a total stranger. He doesn't even know his name, _yet_, his brain adds helpfully.

The stranger raises a brow at him and Thor has to remind himself to close his mouth.

"Hnngh," he says intelligently.

"Hello," his stranger replies, dimples appearing as he smiles at Thor. He's holding a stack of dictionaries in his arms and there's a cat winding around his legs. But the stranger is about to walk away and Thor feels an overwhelming wave of panic. _Don't go_, Thor wants to scream at him.

Instead, he desperately blurts out, "HI I'M THOR IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU!" in an intelligible rush.

His stranger pauses and looks back at him over his shoulder. An odd expression crosses his face for a brief moment and then the dimples are there again and Thor could've swooned. "Hello," he repeats and turns back to walk away again. "Just let me know if you need anything. I'll be at the counter," he adds as he's disappearing around the reference section.

Thor barely quells the insane urge to hurry after him so he doesn't have to be away from his stranger again. He calms slightly when his stranger's words register in his mind and, _oh_, he _works here_ so he would probably still be at the counter for at least a little while. Yes, Thor has not yet so regressed in maturity that he cannot still use logical inference, despite evidence to the contrary in regards to his mental state.

So Thor perches on the edge of his seat and smoothes his hands down his cardigan, then his pants, then his hair. He's wearing his ratty red cardigan and an obnoxiously paisley shirt today, over tan slacks of all things. His hair is in disarray from him running his fingers through it as he was reading. He quickly ties it up in hopes of taming it.

Does he look okay? Is his hair messy? _Why_ did he wear his ratty cardigan today? Are his pants clashing with his shirt? Do his socks match? Oh god, he is a girl. He stands up and makes his way towards the counter.

The cat is back again and it stares at him from the Reference section. This bookshop is apparently home to a herd of animals. The cat is an odd creature, almost exactly divided down the middle in black and white. One blue eye and one orange eye stare up at him as he passes and Thor feels a shiver run down his back.

The feeling dissipates and is instead replaced by warmth when the counter comes into view between the shelves. His stranger is sitting behind the counter with a pair of plastic-frame glasses perched on his nose (Thor feels a vicious hatred towards those glasses because he cannot see his stranger's green, green eyes). He is leaning over the glass top reading a thick book, his fingers tracing gently over the page. His stranger is splendid in a white button down and waistcoat and Thor wants to do indecent things to the hint of clavicle peeking through the unbuttoned top of the shirt.

His stranger looks up when he hears Thor approach and takes off his glasses. He props his chin on a hand and gives him another smile and Thor releases the breath he doesn't realize he is holding.

"Did you find everything alright?" his stranger asks. There is a slightly lilt in his voice, some hint of an indiscernible accent and Thor wants to know _everything_ about this man. He wants to know his past and history and he wants to know if he would like his future to include Thor indefinitely.

Thor is at a loss for words very suddenly as his brain struggles with the question. "I like books," he replies, and he wants to crawl into a ditch and _die_.

His stranger's lips twitch in amusement. "Then you've come to the right place."

Thor exhales and runs a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he tells him, scrambling for some semblance of intelligent thought. He tries to redeem himself. "I'm so terribly out of it today. This is a very lovely place you have here though."

Green eyes light up and his stranger dimples with a delighted smile. "Thank you. I've just moved here and inherited the space from my great aunt. I had to save up for a while to have enough money to turn this into a bookstore. Those were the couple of years this place just looked abandoned, you know. But I'm very happy with how it's turned out."

"It's lovely," Thor repeats stupidly. He clears his throat and tries again, "I mean, it's – I don't know. It has certain homeliness to it and that's very nice – comforting. " He laughs lowly to himself. "I'm terribly sorry again. It seems my vocabulary is going today too. Such a shame – see, I'm a writer."

"Oh!" his stranger says, delighted. "What do you write?" He points at the copy of the previously-dropped copy of the _Poetic Edda_ in Thor's hand. "Does that have anything to do with what you write? Norse mythology?"

Thor is surprised for a moment. He hasn't even realized that he picked up the book from when he dropped it earlier. "Well, yes. I mean, it's also a personal research project of sorts," he tells him.

"How's that?"

"One of the Norse gods is my namesake – Thor."

"Oh." It seems that he did not hear Thor the first time in his desperate scramble of words. The odd expression briefly crosses his stranger's face again before the smile is back. "Nice to meet you then, Thor," he says. "It seems that we have something in common then. I am Loki."

Thor feels like there is a rock in his throat and he has to clear his throat again. "Wow," he says. "This – I have to say, this is weird."

Loki tilts his head and looks at him appraisingly from head to toe. With a wicked gleam in his eye, he says, "Why? You certainly _look_ like you deserve the name."

Is Loki _flirting_ with him? Thor chokes on a laugh and feels like he can die happy. "Thank you – I think. But yeah, this is definitely something," he continues valiantly, trying to ignore the heat pooling in his belly. "Thor, Loki, Thor and Loki? It's kind of amazing that I just met someone else with an Old Norse name like this. I mean, Loki isn't exactly a common name, is it?"

Loki shrugs. "My parents aren't like common people," he replies simply. "So what _are_ you writing? You never said."

Thor spends the next two hours in the bookstore and they talk about everything from Thor's book in progress to Norse myths to Loki adapting to small-town life (he came from the city) to animals (it turns out that Loki has three pets, two of which Thor met: Fenrir, the wolf-dog, and Hel, the black and white cat. Loki apparently also has a snake, Jörmungandr upstairs in his apartments. Loki tells him it's probably not a good idea to keep a snake in the bookstore. It might scare off customers. Thor smiles at the names, thinking of how appropriate they are and he thinks it's adorable that Loki is so into Norse mythology).

Thor begins to feel as though he's known Loki forever and he doesn't understand the feeling of nostalgia that comes with talking to Loki but he relishes in it. He barely notices the time passing as he falls deeper in love with his stranger – no, with _Loki._ It feels so much easier to justify his insane and sudden and rather unjustified love for someone who is still very much a stranger when he knows the stranger's name.

Thor is so very fucking happy about his life at the moment and he feels as though nothing can possibly go wrong ever again, not if he can have Loki because suddenly, he needs Loki like he needs to breathe. He can stay in Loki's company forever and he probably would have happily done so if he doesn't suddenly realize with a pang of guilt that, _fuck_ Mjölnir is still tied up outside and it's been several hours already.

Loki sees the look on his face and asks, "What's wrong?"

Thor explains about his dog and Loki chuckles. "I appreciate your pet courtesy," he says, "but you can just bring him inside. Poor thing, waiting outside all day for you," and Thor is _devastated_ by how perfect someone can be.

Thor rushes outside to Mjölnir and unties him. Mjölnir gives him a plaintive look and turns his head when Thor tries to rub his ears. Thor has to apologize several times before Mjölnir is willing to follow him into the shop. Fenrir immediately comes from the back to sniff at Mjölnir and Thor is nervous for a brief moment before the two dogs decide they like each other and curl up together at the Children's section.

He returns to the counter to see Loki looking at him warmly. Thor thinks this is maybe the best day of his life. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears a phone ring. It's apparently Loki's cell phone and Thor's inner nerd is screaming with glee that the ring tone is the opening theme to _Star Trek_.

Loki apologizes and excuses himself to answer his phone. He comes back moments later and Thor jumps on the ring tone. "Wow, you're a _Star Trek_ fan too? You're a Trekkie?"

Loki squints at him briefly as though he's not sure if Thor is making fun of him or not. "Yes, I am a huge fan," he says. "And it's not Trekkie. It's Trekker," he adds primly.

Thor grins. "Me too! I do have to say I like the rebooted series better than _The Original Series_ though."

Loki looks at him like he has three heads and a pitchfork tail. "Are you insane? _Why_?" he demands and Thor almost giggles at how adorable Loki is when indignant.

They begin to argue over the qualities of _The Original Series_ versus J. J. Abram's new _Star Trek_ and their favorite villains. Thor argues for Khan's redeeming qualities ("oh God, _why_? He _doesn't have _any redeeming qualities") and Loki argues for the depths of Gary Mitchell's psychology ("he is veritably _not_ a deep character.") They don't notice the passing time until Thor's stomach growls loudly and he looks out the window to note that the sun is setting outside and Loki has to close the shop.

They say goodbye as Loki is locking up and Thor practically skips home; he is so happy. Even Mjölnir seems to have forgiven him and Thor feels as though he just found someone he didn't realize how much he needed in his life. He marvels at how perfect Loki is and he can't keep the stupid smile off his face as he walks down the street.

He goes home and has a quick dinner of pop tarts and bananas and falls asleep as soon as his head touches the pillow. That night for the first night in weeks, Thor does not dream.

* * *

**Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: _Thor_ (2011) and _Marvel's The Avengers _(2012) and its characters do not belong, in any way to the writer of this fanfiction. This fiction is written for non-profit reasons.

Also posted on tumblr: (username: pineapplebread), bifrost link on top of page. Tumblr usually gets updated first so if you want to read ahead, please head over to Tumblr.

* * *

Thor goes back to the book store every day after that (the shop is called Bifröst, he notes happily). He finds that he can talk to Loki about anything at all and since customers appear sporadically and few and far in between, they have _a lot_ of time to talk.

He hashes ideas for his new book with Loki and he finds that Loki is very good with suggestions. He thinks outside of the box and presents Thor with ideas that he would not have originally thought of by himself. Loki's vast knowledge of Norse mythology is also a great help to Thor. Whatever aspects of the mythology or history Thor is uncertain of, he asks Loki. With Loki's encouragement, Thor is writing again and Phil and Nick have finally stopped threatening to drop his contract.

Sometimes, Thor stops by Sludge first and brings Loki coffee on the way. He soon discovers that Loki does not actually like coffee the way Thor does (extra cream, extra sugar, hold the coffee) and instead likes it black. Thor grimaces thinking about black coffee. He doesn't really understand why anyone would like drinking something so bitter and disgusting but Loki seems to enjoy it fine.

Thor also learns that Loki doesn't always slick his hair back the way he did the first time Thor saw him and the first day Thor met him. More often than not, Loki likes to just wear his hair loose. Thor notices that when it's not slicked back, Loki's hair _curls_ and it makes Thor's fingers itch to run through them.

Three weeks into their daily chats, Thor is greeted by a Loki who is glaring at him coldly instead of smiling at him warmly and Thor wracks his brain to try to think of what he could've possibly done to make Loki mad at him. Loki ignores his questions on what's wrong until he finally breaks and there is a twitch at the corner of his lips that Thor has come to recognize as the beginning of a smile.

Loki ducks under the counter. He digs through a box at his feet before he straightens and holds up a book. Thor immediately recognizes the cover. It's his book. Once again, he's confused on _why_ that might've made Loki angry.

"You never said," Loki says simply.

"Said what?"

Loki rolls his eyes. "That you're _Thor Odinson_," he says slowly as though explaining a very difficult concept to a child.

Thor is still confused. "What do you mean? You know my name."

And Loki is smiling again and Thor feels an immense crush of relief. "You never told me you were Thor Odinson," he repeats. "The _New York Times_ Bestseller has been frequenting my humble bookstore and I didn't even know it."

There's that warmth in his belly again and the vice around his chest. Thor chuckles. "You've read my books?"

Loki looks thoughtful for a moment, glancing at the book in his hands. "No, actually, I haven't." He looks up at Thor with a mischievous glint in his green eyes. "Should I?"

Thor bursts into gales of booming laughter. He stops when he notices Loki looking at him intently and forces himself into a semblance of calm. "Of course you shouldn't," Thor replies simply. "It would be strange now and you would judge me on my writing and unoriginal ideas. It would completely ruin our friendship, I think." And Thor's heart clenches again when he realizes what he just said. Are they friends yet?

Loki scoffs. "I'll save you the devastation to your ego then, since I'm such a good friend," and the look he gives Thor is almost shy.

Thor is relieved. "And since _I'm _such a good friend," he says, "I'll buy you dinner today for neglecting to tell you my true identity."

Before Loki can reply, a customer walks up to the counter with a stack of books. Loki turns away to ring him up but Thor sees the furrow in his brow and he almost takes back his offer but he forces himself to not say anything until Loki is finished. He quickly packs up the books for the customer and turns back to Thor.

"Of course you should buy me dinner," Loki says and Thor is so _elated_ that yes, Loki is willing to have dinner with him. "You've kept your secret identity from me, Thor Odinson," he continues. His eyes narrow in a squint and Thor wants to coo at him. "What other secrets are you hiding?"

Thor smirks at him. "I'll tell you all my secrets over dinner. Pick you up at seven?"

Loki nods and turns before Thor can see his smile.

Thor rushes home to shower and change and pick out his outfit and maybe even do his nails and makeup because Thor is a thirteen year old girl about to go on his first date. Mjölnir greets him at the door and Thor kisses him on the head in his giddiness before he gets a grip on himself. A glance at the clock tells him it's only four in the afternoon and he has three hours to waste.

He putters around his apartment, picking up clutter and straightening his curtains, his couch, his bookshelves. He looks balefully at his little family of dried potted plants and briefly wonders if they can even be rescued in their current state. By five-thirty, he's nearly crawling out of his skin, he's so anxious.

It's not a big deal. It's not a big deal. _It's not a big deal_, he keeps trying to tell himself and utterly fails at believing that. It's not even a date so Thor can't even imagine how he would've reacted if Loki had agreed to a real date. He probably would've died on the spot, or fainted, or threw up, or something equally ridiculous and embarrassing.

By six-eleven and thirty-eight seconds, he's showered, and dressed in a dark grey t-shirt, black slacks, boots, and is contemplating if he should wear his blazer or leather jacket. Should he tie up his hair? Should he shave? Again?

He is in the middle of retying his hair for the fifth time and it's almost six-thirty when Thor realizes, _fuck_, he doesn't even know where he's taking Loki and, _double fuck_, he didn't make any reservations. He feels like banging his head against his closet door. He curses his own stupidity and speed dials Sif.

"Hey Sif," he says when she picks up.

"Yes, Thor? What is it?" she sounds harried and he feels horrible for springing this on her last minute.

"I'm going to guess you guys are crowded tonight, as usual?"

Sif sighs on her end of the line. "How many?"

"Just two. In say, half an hour? Thank you, Sif, you're amazing, I love you, I owe you one!" he says in a rush and hangs up on her before she can sputter her indignation and say no.

It's six-forty-two when he finally decides, okay, he's going to leave his fucking hair in a ponytail, wear the blazer, and checks Mjölnir's food and water before he grabs his car keys and heads down to the garage. It's six-fifty-seven when he pulls up in front of Bifröst and texts Loki to come downstairs.

Thor bites down hard on his tongue to keep from moaning when Loki steps out of the bookstore's side door dressed in a v-neck, jeans, and a leather jacket. There's a black and white hound's-tooth scarf looped loosely around his neck that Thor wants to use to pull him close and kiss him. Thor has never seen Loki in anything but button-downs and slacks before and he definitely likes this new look. The jeans are hugging his ass and crotch in all the right ways and Thor is seconds away from embarrassing himself.

Loki raises a brow at his car and gives Thor an amused look as he climbs into the passenger seat. "Really?" he says.

Thor chokes a couple of times before he manages to splutter, "Whaaa?" There might be blood in his mouth.

Loki gives him a wide grin. "You drive a _Beetle_? And it's _yellow_?"

Thor frowns. "What's wrong with my car?"

Loki throws back his head against the headrest and _laughs_. Thor is half hard from just looking at the pale line of his neck. "Nothing," Loki manages to gasp between giggles, which he will vehemently deny as being giggles. "But it's all very perfect, yet so very ironic of you. Did you do that on purpose?"

Thor scoffs and throws the gear into drive as Loki continues to laugh. He pulls up in front of The Warriors Three and groans when he sees the crowd of people outside the restaurant waiting for tables. He gives a quick prayer that Sif won't gut him on sight for doing this to her as he passes his keys to the valet.

Loki gives a low whistle. "Fancy," he notes. "I haven't found the time to wander over to this side of town yet." He looks around at the low rustic buildings and rough cobblestones of the Old Sector of town. "It's pretty nice."

Thor smiles and guides him to the door. He's greeted by an extremely exhausted-looking Sif who glares hatefully at him. He gives her a sheepish smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. She softens minutely and tells him, "I hate you, Thor. I hope you're fucking happy. I had to shift a couple of other reservations around just to give you this table."

"You're the best, Sif," he tells her again as she leads them to a small table in the back. She whacks him with a menu before she offers Loki a small smile and disappears back to the front.

Loki is thumbing through the menu when he looks back up to smirk at Thor. "What exactly is contemporary Swedish bistro fare?" he asks.

Thor blushes and hopes that Loki doesn't notice under the ambient lighting. "Sorry," he says. "If you don't like Swedish, we can always go somewhere else. I just thought – well, actually. I forgot to make reservations to a place closer to the bookstore so I figured – I, yeah. I was going to take you to this Italian place because, who doesn't like Italian? They have the best homemade pasta. But I forgot to call and they're always crowded. Anyways, since my friends own this place, I thought I could take you. And – yeah," he abruptly cuts himself off when he realizes he is rambling and Loki is looking bemusedly at him across the table.

"No," Loki says, smiling down at his menu. "This is okay. I've just never had _contemporary Swedish bistro fare_ before," the way he rolls the words on his tongue makes Thor want to flip the table over and grab Loki caveman style and drag him home. Thor never even knew someone could say _contemporary Swedish bistro fare_ and make it sound _hot_. They might be his new favorite words.

Thor barely even notices when the waiter comes over and introduces himself as Jörg and asks for their orders. Loki continues to look back at him in amusement as he addresses the waiter. "_Jag kommer att har gravad lax som förrätt och svenska köttbullar som min huvudrätt. Tack,_" he says in a flawless Swedish accent. "I do _love_ cured salmon and Swedish meatballs," he says to Thor. Loki's grin is absolutely _wicked_.

Thor goggles at him and doesn't even notice his mouth dropping open. He's pretty sure he's in way over his head now. He scratches out his previous thought. His new favorite words are Loki speaking in foreign tongues, definitely.

The waiter is nodding and turning towards Thor who is still yet undecided. "_Mycket bra,__sir.__Och du_?"

Thor quickly thumbs through his menu again and says eloquently, "Uh, yeah, I'll have the… duck, and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, oh-five Rubissow if you have it."

The waiter nods again and disappears with a perfunctory smile.

"I didn't know you speak Swedish," Thor says, still trying to get over his awe.

Loki shrugs, taking a small sip of his water. "It never really came up. Not a lot of people speak Swedish in these parts, you know. It's not like I have a lot of people to practice it on."

Thor nods. "I don't even speak Swedish," he says. "And I'm Swedish – at least, I think I'm Swedish, I'm pretty sure."

Loki frowns slightly and tilts his head questioningly. "You're not sure. How is that?"

Before Thor has time to answer that he grew up in an orphanage, how can he possibly know where he came from, he wishes he knew, someone slaps him heartily on the back and he hears the familiar booming voice of one of his very good friends.

"Thor, you bastard!"

Thor grins up as his friend, Volstagg who is standing over their table with the bottle of wine. He clasps him back on the arm as Volstagg beams down at him. "Old friend! I would have thought you too busy to spare me the time for a greeting. I'm sure Sif told you I was here tonight and was griping endlessly about it no less."

Volstagg laughs. "For you, Thor, I have two minutes but really, no more than that. The kitchen is insane today. One of the sous chefs called in sick and we are a pair of hands short already!"

"Ah," Thor says. He clears his throat. "This is my friend, Loki. Loki, this is one of my dearest and oldest friends, Volstagg. He is the executive chef of this restaurant."

Loki looks up at him with a polite smile and an extended hand. Volstagg shakes it heartily and booms about what an absolute pleasure it is and goes on for a couple of minutes of how he doesn't get to see Thor nearly often enough before someone from the kitchen calls for him and he has to dash back to his work.

Thor finds that it is ridiculously easy to pick up a conversation with Loki again and he is almost mesmerized by just how _effortless _it is to be around this man who was a stranger just a few weeks ago. They're halfway through their second course and are talking about everything and nothing. They are having what Thor is considering to be one of the best nights in his memory when the _Star Trek_ theme starts playing.

Loki startles slightly and gives Thor an apologetic look before he digs his phone out of his pocket to glance at the screen. His brow furrows in confusion when he sees the name on the screen. "I'm sorry," he tells Thor. "I think I need to take this."

Thor waves him off noncommittally. "It's not a problem."

Loki gives him a grateful smile and disappears. He returns a couple of minutes later looking pale and sickly and panicked. "I'm sorry," he says hurriedly as he tugs on his jacket. Thor is immediately alarmed.

"What happened? Is everything alright?"

"I—" Loki is running his fingers restlessly through his hair. His eyes are vividly green and absolutely wild with something like worry and dread and _fear._ It scares Thor.

"Something happened back home. I-in New York. I—" He takes a deep breath. "Something happened to someone – he's my – he's very important to me," Loki is saying and despite his panic, Thor feels a crushing red wave of jealousy at the fact that someone can elicit this kind of reaction from Loki. "I have to go," Loki says desperately, throwing on his scarf.

Thor nods. "Of course." He stands and scoops up his jacket and throws a handful of bills on the table before Loki can begin to reach for his wallet. "No," Thor tells him, "don't worry about it."

Loki gives him a grateful look. "I'm so, so, so very sorry for doing this to you."

Thor smiles slightly and reaches out to grip Loki firmly by his shoulders. He can see Loki physically struggling to remain calm. "Hey, things happen. An emergency is an emergency," he says, but the clenching feeling in his chest is back and this time, it _hurts_.

Loki nods tersely and they're hurrying out of the restaurant with one last nod to a perplexed looking Sif. They hurry directly to the garage, not wanting to waste time waiting for the valet and Thor quickly throws his car into gear. "Do you need to go to your apartment to pack?" Loki shakes his head. "Okay then," and he swings onto the nearest ramp onto the highway.

Loki gives him a startled look. "Where are you going?"

Thor presses harder on the pedal. "New York, of course."

* * *

**Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: _Thor_ (2011) and _Marvel's The Avengers _(2012) and its characters do not belong, in any way to the writer of this fanfiction. This fiction is written for non-profit reasons.

Also posted on tumblr: (username: pineapplebread), bifrost link on top of page. Tumblr usually gets updated first so if you want to read ahead, please head over to Tumblr.

* * *

The highway stretches long and dark before them with the occasional pair of headlights in the rearview. For the most part, there isn't much traffic and Thor is relieved that he can press the pedal down as far as he can and push the Beetle as fast as it can possibly go.

Beside him, Loki is slumped against the passenger window. He hasn't spoken since Thor took the ramp onto the I-87. The drive to New York City is supposed to take a little over two hours from their small town upstate, and they're only half an hour into the trip.

"You didn't have to do this, you know," Loki says softly and Thor nearly jumps out of his skin.

Thor looks over at him and notes the tired line of Loki's normally smiling mouth and the fatigue written in his eyes. He shakes his head. "I know," he replies simply and doesn't elaborate. And Thor can't even explain it to himself why it is that he is driving Loki a hundred miles to help with a situation he knows nothing about and something Loki is not offering to explain. So Thor presses, "What happened anyways?"

Loki just shakes his head. "I'll explain when we get there, I promise," and that's the end of the conversation. They lapse back into silence but this time, the silence is less suffocating and Thor trains his concentration on the stretch of highway in front of him.

The darkness on both sides of the road is lightening and shapes are beginning to glow from the edge of Thor's peripheral vision. The stretch of trees that have been lining the interstate gives way to sporadic buildings and lights and he glances at the dash. It's ten, and they're close to the city.

He looks over at Loki and finds him asleep. He is loath to wake him but Thor needs directions to where he has to go so he shakes Loki gently awake and tells him, "We're almost there. Where do I need to go?"

Loki groans awake, a sound that inappropriately makes Thor's blood rush south and he hates himself a little bit for it. How inappropriate, Thor.

"Oh," Loki says, blinking blearily at the looming city in the windshield. "In a few minutes, take exit thirteen to the FDR Drive," he says blankly. "We're going to the Presbyterian Hospital uptown."

Thor nods and feels a little bit numb. There's also a rush of guilt at all of the untoward feelings he has developed towards this mystery person Loki is rushing to.

They're pulling up to the hospital and before Thor even fully stops the car, Loki is throwing open his passenger door and running out of the car. Thor curses as his foot slams on the brake and he has no choice but to run in after Loki; car and future tickets, and possible towing be damned.

He finds Loki at the information desk, panting harshly and looking a little crazy. The poor woman behind the counter is cowering in fear and he has never seen Loki look anything but calm and this belligerently seething Loki is more than a little bit terrifying. Thor comes up behind him in time to hear the woman squeak, "Milstein Heart Center across the street, third floor!"

Loki all but bolts for the exit and sprints across the street, regardless of the honking traffic he cuts dangerously across. Thor swears again and follows him. Loki jabs furiously at the elevator buttons in the enormous glass lobby and before Thor has time to appreciate the ridiculously expansive banks of windows, the elevator comes and Loki is already inside the car. Thor has no choice but to follow and Loki nearly breaks the button pressing for three.

His cell phone is out as soon as the elevator deposits them on the third floor and Loki barks into the phone, "Where is he?" he doesn't even notice almost bowling into a tall blond man on the phone in front of him.

The man on the phone turns and Loki glares at him but puts his phone down. "Rogers," he says tersely to the stranger.

"Loki," the stranger, Rogers returns, sounding strained and very tired.

Thor is very confused at this point.

"Where is he?" Loki repeats.

Rogers sighs and runs a hand over his face. He looks haggard and in need of sleep, Thor notes. His clothes are rumpled like he just tossed on the first items of clothing he found and rushed to the hospital, which is probably what he did.

"He's in surgery right now," Rogers replies. "He's been in surgery for almost four hours now and—_fuck_, I—" Steve stops talking abruptly and wanders listlessly towards a group of chairs in the middle of the hall. "I think he's going to be in there for a while more. Come sit."

Loki stalks over to stand in front of Rogers. He seems to have forgotten that Thor is present at all so Thor helps himself to a seat next to Rogers. Rogers turns to him with a tense smile and a proffered hand.

"Hi, I'm Steve Rogers," he says.

"Thor," Thor returns simply, gripping his hand firmly.

"What happened?" Loki asks tightly. Thor vaguely notices a tick in his jaw.

Steve sighs again. "I came home and found hi-him passed out on the rug. At first I thought –" Steve swallows audibly. "I thought he just collapsed from exhaustion. You know how he works himself half to death." Steve looks stricken at what he just said and he quickly knocks on the wooden armrest of his chair. "But yeah," he continues. "He wa-wasn't br-breathing when I checked on him so I called 911. And you. They rushed him here a-and they found that his Arc? That pacemaker he built himself. It stopped working. I-I thought he wouldn't make it by the time they loaded him into the ambulance." Steve buries his face in his hands. "He's in surgery now. They're trying to fix him," he mumbles into his hands.

Thor resolutely ignores Steve's shaking shoulders, thinking maybe a man like Steve isn't one for strangers offering him comfort. Instead, he turns to Loki. Loki looks like he's about to cry and Thor stands to wrap his arms around him. Loki all but collapses against his shoulder as he runs hands through his dark hair and Thor wishes fervently that this intimacy isn't happening during a crisis. He makes soft shushing noises when he feels Loki's shoulder start to tremble and wraps his arms around him tighter.

"M'fine," Loki mumbles against his shoulder and Thor shushes him again.

"I'm going to kill him when he comes out of surgery," Steve says from his seat and Thor has a hysterical urge to laugh and maybe possibly never stop. Loki's grip on his biceps tightens. He really fucking wishes he knew what the fuck is going on.

A set of double doors down the hall opens and a doctor in surgery scrubs steps out between them. He heads briskly down the hall towards them and takes off his mask before he asks, "Are you his family?"

Loki and Steve both nod and Thor is more bewildered than ever.

"He's very lucky this time," the doctor says. "If he was found even a minute later, his organs would have asphyxiated from the lack of oxygen pumping through his bloodstream. You should let him know that he has to stop building his own machines, genius or not, in case things like this happen. The battery in the Arc is completely burned through and it was slowly pumping poison into his bloodstream. But he should be fine now. We put in a new pacemaker. The nurses are taking him up to ICU now. You can all head up there."

Steve thanks the doctor while Loki silently nods as he walks away. They take the elevator up to the fifth floor and it takes a minute before they get their bearings. With some help from nurses, they find the Intensive Care Unit. The unit stretches down the hall, its windows transparent glass looking into the individual patient rooms.

Steve and Loki walk briskly down the hall passing most of the windows until they get to the end and they stop to stare at the patient in the bed. Steve looks a little like he might start crying again and Loki's mouth twitches but he resolutely clenches his jaw.

On the other side of the glass hooked up to tubes and wires and machines is genius playboy billionaire, Tony Stark. Thor feels like his brain might burst at this point.

* * *

**Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: _Thor_ (2011) and _Marvel's The Avengers _(2012) and its characters do not belong, in any way to the writer of this fanfiction. This fiction is written for non-profit reasons.

Also posted on tumblr: (username: pineapplebread), bifrost link on top of page. Tumblr usually gets updated first so if you want to read ahead, please head over to Tumblr.

* * *

Thor recognizes Tony Stark from the tabloids. He's seen his face plastered on every celebrity rag and every business and technology newspaper since he can remember. The man is apparently a genius who built his first computer at the age of five, his first robot at the age of eight, his first missile in high school, and everything went up from there. He apparently recently inherited the multi-billion dollar innovative tech company, Stark Industries from his father Howard Stark, who died in an accident with wife, Maria Stark a couple of years ago.

Tony Stark is always smiling in his press photos, huge grins behind expensive sunglasses. He usually looks larger than life. Thor thinks he looks very small now, lying amidst all of the wires in the expanse of the huge white bed. Even he feels sad seeing this magnanimous stranger in this state.

How and why Tony Stark could possibly be important enough for Loki to rush across the state for though, Thor still has no idea. He thinks it is probably not a good time to ask though, as Loki is staring into the room as though it is killing him to be there.

A nurse is tapping Steve on the arm. "I'm afraid you're going to have to go," she tells him and he looks _crushed_. She pats him kindly. "He's in a very critical state at the moment and we cannot allow visitors into his room at this time. You're better off going home and coming back in the morning, hun."

Steve nods slowly as though he is still working to comprehend what she said. She gently shoos them away and even presses the down button for the elevator for them.

Outside, the night is chilly and Thor notices Loki shivering from the corner of his eye. He throws an arm around Loki's shoulder and ignores the strange look Steve gives him.

Thankfully, the car hasn't been towed. There is a bright orange ticket waiting on his windshield though and Thor quickly shoves it into his pocket before Loki can see it and feel worse about the situation. They climb into the car, and Steve gives him directions to an address a little ways downtown.

The car stops in front of Stark Tower and Thor isn't even surprised anymore. His daily rationed quota of shock is officially used up for the night. Steve instructs him to park in the employee garage and clips a tag to the rearview mirror before getting out. So it wouldn't be towed by security in the morning, he explains.

The glass elevator takes them up to the penthouse after Loki punches in a bunch of codes. The ride is relatively short for the hundred-odd stories it climbs but Thor is getting to be very sick of elevators.

The elevator doors open into a ridiculous apartment. There is an enormous wall of floor-to-ceiling windows opposite the elevator. Everything is done in what appears in Thor's meager knowledge to be very expensive dark wood and marble. There is an enormous flat-screen that takes up _an entire wall _and a huge sitting area. Hallways wend off from the living room and they seem to disappear in labyrinthine turns. Thor is getting a headache trying to figure out exactly how _big_ this apartment is.

"Steve! Loki!" comes a voice from what Thor can see is a fully stocked bar. A woman with bright red hair steps out from behind the marble counter and she immediately throws her arms around Steve. Her makeup is smudged and her eyes are very red. She pulls away slightly to give Loki a watery smile.

"The doctors say he's going to be okay, Pepper," Steve is saying quietly to her. "They didn't let us see him though."

Pepper shakes her head and laughs humorously. "Of course he's going to be okay," she says. "He always makes it. I'm going to kill him though. I'm going to seriously kill him this time," she laughs again before she breaks down into tearful sobs in Steve's arms.

"Yeah, well, you're going to have to get in line for that," Loki mutters as he collapses onto a couch.

Thor is standing next to Loki feeling extremely awkward when Pepper finally raises her head and wipes at her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she says to him. She steps out of Steve's embrace to offer Thor a hand. "I'm not normally like this. It's just that – ugh, _Tony_! I'm sorry," she repeats, chucking again, this time with a hint of humor. "I'm Pepper Potts, Tony's friend," she says, shaking Thor's hand.

He can't help but smile back. He pats her hand gently and replies, "It's alright. I'm Thor. I'm only sorry that we had to meet during such a horrible situation."

She nods. "I'll bet that you have no idea what's going on, do you?" she says intuitively and Thor laughs.

"None at all, Ms. Potts."

"Pepper, please," she says lightly. She presses a drink into his hand and waves them all towards the couches. "I'm guessing you came with Loki." She continues after Thor's nod, "Of course, you're just his type. ("Pepper!") And of course he would rush down here. Tony is his brother."

Thor's jumbled thoughts screech to a grinding halt. "Wait. What?"

Loki clears his throat from the other end of the couch. "It's not exactly widely known. I was adopted by Howard Stark and in the light all of Tony's accomplishments, I'm afraid the media didn't like to bother with me. But yes, Tony _is_ my brother; even if we're not related, he's very important to me. And," he looks at Thor with a look he cannot discern, "I'm sorry for having dragged you all the way here."

Something isn't quite clicking with Thor and something feels very off but he ignores the feeling in favor of Loki. "You didn't drag me," he pointed out. "I chose to come."

Loki smiles almost shyly. "I'm glad you did. I don't think I could've dealt with my brother-in-law all by myself," he jokes lightly, rolling his eyes at Steve who is talking quietly to Pepper on the other side of the room.

_Brother-in-law_? Thor doesn't really think he should ask. That would certainly explain why Steve is so emotional over Tony. Thor wracks his brain for when he might have heard about Tony Stark's marriage though and realizes, _oh_ Steve Rogers as in Tony Stark's husband Steve Rogers. Yeah, he might have seen them in the papers before. Once, twice, five thousand times.

"Tony has always had heart problems," Loki continues. "He was born with a bad heart. I think that might be most of the reason why Howard adopted me." His face darkens. "Maria – she was our mom. She couldn't have any more children. So they adopted me. You know, so there's someone to take over his tech conglomerate in case his _real_ son doesn't make it." He grimaces into the cup he's holding in his hands. "Not that I ever blamed Tony for what Howard did. He's always treated me like I'm actually his brother."

Thor reaches out unthinkingly and takes Loki's hand in his. "Your adopted father was an idiot to not realize just how very amazing you are. Genius or not, you can give me a run for my money any day of the week."

Loki gives him a sideways look but doesn't take back his hand. He smirks slightly, "I know I can," he jokes and Thor lets him have it because in that moment, Loki looks so vulnerable and moments away from breaking and seriously, Thor has a problem with love.

"But yeah," Loki says. "Tony was born with congenital heart defect. He wasn't even supposed to make it past four years old. That was when they adopted me; I was also four at the time, so I never had any delusions that I wasn't really Howard's son. But Tony celebrated his fourth birthday with me when Howard and Maria brought me here. He even seemed to be getting healthier as he got older. He's always been extraordinarily stubborn," Loki smiles slightly at this. "That was, until we were six and he started having some serious issues again. It got so bad that the doctors told us he would need a heart transplant and the list was so long, we were afraid he wouldn't last until he could get one. He finally got a heart transplant when we were nine but his body rejected the heart a-and he almost died." He had to pause for a second to get himself under control again and Thor squeezes his fingers in a gentle grip.

Loki is visibly blinking back tears now. "We grew up together, you know. Tony never treated me any different even when Howard did. Maria was good to me too; she always treated me like her son. It's just Howard who never did because he only had eyes for Tony. Tony just – he lights up a room. He would always be the center of attention, brilliant golden Tony, and I was happy to let him have the spotlight. I never wanted the spotlight for myself and I was always proud of Tony and in awe of how his mind works.

"When he was fourteen, he built his own mechanical heart, the Arc. That was how he got early admission into MIT when he was fifteen. It's been working fine until last year when he started building more models in rapid succession. I knew the Arc was failing even though he wouldn't tell me because _he didn't want me to worry_," Loki says bitterly.

"So I let him go at it, because by then he had Rogers—Steve already. They met in college and Tony was only sixteen at the time and Rogers was twenty-two. At first, I wasn't so crazy about Roge – Steve. He seemed fake and far too earnest and too old for Tony. Haha, I sound like an overbearing sibling now. But I learned to have some respect for him after he came back for Tony after serving several tours in Iraq after he graduated.

"I thought Steve would be enough to keep an eye on him. But of course, Tony really doesn't know how to ask for help even if it's for his own fucking good." Loki visibly deflates against the couch, exhausted and wrung out.

Even Thor feels _drained_ and he can't even imagine how Loki, Steve, and Pepper must feel. He is tired and exhausted from the ordeal so how would the people closest to Tony even begin to cope with the enormity of the situation?

"Come on," he hears Loki say and he blinks open his eyes (when did he close them?) to see Loki standing in front of him. Loki is tugging him up to stand and Thor almost face-plants into the coffee table. Oh hey, legs.

Loki is tugging him by the hand down the hall. Thor offers a brief wave to Pepper and Steve as he passes by them and at this point, he's not sure if he actually waved to them or if he waved to the espresso machine. He vaguely tries to make some incoherent protest about finding a hotel when he realizes that Loki is pulling him gently down the hall.

Loki snorts. "Don't be ridiculous," he says. He pulls him down one of the labyrinthine halls and Thor doesn't even have the mindfulness to take note of all of the Modernist paintings hanging on the walls.

"Warhol," Loki offers offhandedly, gesturing vaguely at a painting of a banana that Thor stops in front of for a moment, because _there's a banana on the wall_. He tugs him further down the hall until he stops in front of a door at the very end. Loki pushes it open and pulls Thor in.

His fingers are pushing Thor's blazer off and Thor _really fucking wishes_ that he is not so fucking exhausted and can enjoy this, platonic though it is. He falls face first into the enormous bed in the room, dully notes that, oh hey, nice sheets before he is passed out cold.

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